Smaller city of Manitowoc budgets in the past couple years led to layoffs of Public Works employees available for a variety of tasks, including fall leaf pickup.

Written by

In the fall of 2011, the city's budget deliberations for its 2012 spending document included many long nights and included about 50 municipal employees losing their jobs and a 10 percent tax hike for property owners.

This past fall, the City Council passed its 2013 budget with no layoffs, no tax increase and no $5 million emergency loan from Manitowoc Public Utilities to backfill the previous year's budget.

Even though budget deliberations weren't as painful, these are still challenging fiscal times for all units of government, including at the state and national level. ...